Monday, May 21, 2007

I've been MIA for the last little while. There's a multitude of reasons for that. The primary one is that I've been floating around in a state of ennui about my future. This week, I'm traveling to the alma mater to discuss my future with my old professors, some of whom are now deans but that is not the point. The point is that upon further thought, I have no idea of how I can describe my particular project for grad school. The simplest way to explain it is I want to research 20th Century Cultural and Social History, post-World War II subcultures, race, gender, sexuality, critical theory, popular culture, visual culture, and cultural studies.

My probable main goal is to write about grindhouse cinema (read: Blaxploitation, Sexploitation, Camp, B-Movies, Slasher Flicks, Low Budget Sci-fi, etc.) as sites of true political debate. This means that while the general image presented in said films can be read in a negative way, but, as I will argue, those negative images are in fact a challenge to the mainstream thoughts and its confining thoughts about the topics discussed. While it may have been lascivious or culturally damning, I would like to examine the ways in which the grindhouse offered us the only space where true politics could be discussed without the implied morality that is suggested in much of the American discourse. In a simpler way, the grindhouse films are visual arguments on body politics.

Yes, that's a bit pretentious, but, if you have watched enough of these films, that argument begins to make a lot more sense. Additionally, this topic will probably change as I learn more about those subject areas. So, why does this involve me being not as active with the blog? That answer isn't quite good enough for me. I want to be able to answer it more thoroughly. The professors that I'm talking to are very good diggers. They ask a lot of questions and are very demanding. If I don't come into the discussion on point, they'll question my motives and this is one of the few things that I have been rock solidly confident about once I came to it. To not let them get to me, I have to be hyper-prepared. So, I'm going to work on that today. Hopefully, I can get back into a rhythm tomorrow (Maybe, something will happen).

I also owe you a sunday list, but I can't do that right now. If you want to know what I'm listening to, I'm listening to T.I.'s King. I was reading some dude on the net while I was seething with frustration at hip-hop snobs (I used to be one, but I got into hardcore Southern rap and that pretty much went out the window. I prefer electro and old-school, but hot is hot and I can't hate as a head. The game may be dying from excess materialism, but there's a lot of hella good talent out there right now. HELLA good.) and he was talking about how he was a T.I. hater too, but got over it with King. Plus, T.I. keeps calling himself the king of the South or the Jay-Z of the South. Might as well see if he proves his claims. So far, he is, but I'm only 4 in.